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Thursday, June 29, 2006

My Council member, Ludye Wallace, is going to get $50,000 in discretionary funds to spend on his pet projects. Why? Because,

the council created a $1.95 million discretionary fund that members could use to pay for infrastructure improvements in their districts, nonprofit agency grants or other needs the council has not yet defined.

I learned from watching the budget and finance discussions that the fund comes from past years' delinquent property taxes collected this year.

I am troubled that the conservative horde hypocritically accepted the windfall funds rather than each committing to return their share to taxpayers, which would be consistent with their proclaimed anti-tax values. I am bothered that Charlie Tygard did not use his $50,000 to fund his Habitat Love-In Project. But most of all I am anxious that Ludye Wallace--who allegedly trades votes for alleys and lost $2,000 while visiting constituents in a gambling house social club--is running around with $50,000 to spend on his pet projects. God help us all in District 19.

Some of them will claim they are dems. But the majority are very conservative when it comes to social issues. And now, more than a third have openly aligned themselves with the republican party. The liberals are in the minority by a huge margin.